News

OIT Opens Wilsonville Campus

The Oregon Institute of Technology officially opened its campus in Wilsonville Wednesday. OIT bought a former office building to consolidate its four Willamette Valley branches into one place. The university’s main campus is in Klamath Falls.

Oregon Institute of Technology's Wilsonville campus

Oregon Institute of Technology

University president Chris Maples says the metro-area enrollment has spiked 20-percent for this term. He says it doesn’t hurt to have a more obvious presence along I-5.

“We’ve been in the Portland Metro area for almost 30 years now. And most people had no idea we were here, and I’ve already run into a couple of people who didn’t realize we were in Klamath Falls. So we’re already getting some really positive benefit from people driving by and seeing the sign, and seeing the university.”

Maples calls the new campus Oregon Tech Wilsonville. He says it could serve as many as 1200 students, or about twice the enrollment it has this term.

The campus has two signature programs: clinical lab sciences – in partnership with Oregon Health and Science University — and renewable energy engineering.

Oregon lawmakers approved using $20 million in lottery-backed bonds to cover two-thirds of the building’s cost.